Into the Darkness
by Neko-Salosa
Summary: AU Dark Rockman saga from Stream 40 on. My take on what I would like to happen. Dark Rockman is out for revenge against Rockman, but how does he plan to taking it. By making Rockman suffer as much as he possibly can. [Finished]
1. Chapter 1

The mission was simple. Go to where Dark Rockman was predicted to strike next and wait. Not too much to follow in any respect, just pray they had good luck and something would happen.

Netto fell out of his crouching position onto his butt and stretched his legs yawning. "This is so boring," he whispered to Enzan and Laika who were next to him.

Enzan and Laika had been called in as part of a special task unit to capture Dark Rockman and disband Neo WWW once and for all. They were called along with Jasmine, Dingo, Pride, Meiru, Raoul, Charlie and Nenji but the latter weren't at the post. It was too dangerous because they didn't have syncro chips and Rush had mysteriously disappeared into a Rush Hole earlier that afternoon with no trace of his whereabouts left.

Laika looked at Netto, his green eyes unforgiving, "Well, you wanted to do this," he said.

Netto resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at the Sharro solider. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered.

Rockman gave laugh from his PET. "Well, at least you're doing something, right?" he pointed out.

Netto smiled, "Yeah, I guess so."

There was a rumble and crackle of electricity as four Dimensional Areas appeared out of nowhere. "This is it," Enzan hissed.

Dark Rockman appeared right behind where Netto, Enzan and Laika were hiding. "Oh?" he asked in an amused voice. "What's this, a trap?"

The three boys jumped and spun around to see the purple navi grinning maliciously. "Did I startle you?" he asked in a mocking voice. "I'm sorry."

Netto's eyes narrowed as he pulled out his Syncro Chip. Laika and Enzan did the same and together they slotted the silver chips into their PETs. Dark Rockman watched with amusement as a green, blue and red bubble appeared around them, expanded and disappeared to reveal R-Rockman, R-Blues and R-Searchman in their wake. "Isn't this fun?" he whispered and launched himself at Enzan.

Enzan barely had enough time to bring up a sword to parry the blow. The sword shattered on impact and Enzan flew backwards a few feet and skidded on the ground. "Weak," Dark Rockman sneered.

Netto yelled out and brought an Elec Sword down to Dark Rockman. Dark Rockman sidestepped but Netto managed to turn in mid air and clip the dark navi on his shoulder. Dark Rockman jumped back and his red eyes danced with delight. "Very good, Netto-kun," he cheered.

Laika waited in the back and as Dark Rockman's attention was diverted he released a beam of red energy at Dark Rockman. Dark Rockman noted it and took a step forward to avoid it. "Impossible," Laika said in shock.

Dark Rockman smirked, "No, you're just too slow. This is how you fight!" he yelled and disappeared from his spot. He reappeared in front of Laika and shot him point blank with his buster.

"Laika!" Netto and Enzan yelled. There was dust around where their comrade was and they couldn't see the damage inflicted on their friend. Dark Rockman flew out of the cloud of dust with a sword and went after Netto. Netto summoned a sword and managed to block the incoming blow, but barely.

"You're weak, Netto-kun," Dark Rockman jeered, "you and your navi."

Netto glared at him and pushed back his blade. "We are not," he hissed, "Rockman and I are stronger then you'll ever be."

"Oh?" Dark Rockman asked, grinning fiendishly. "All right then, how strong are you when you don't have your navi?" he asked and brought up his buster. Netto blocked the attack with a shield but when he looked up Dark Rockman was gone. "Too slow," he heard a voice whisper in his ear. Netto felt the blow on his back as he flew forward into the ground. He lay there for a few seconds and then fell out of Cross Fusion.

Enzan had run over to where Laika had been shot. He looked around to see a huge hole blown into the ground and Laika in it. "You aimed your sniper at the ground," Enzan said in awe, "nice."

Laika grimaced, "Yeah, but it still hurt."

The two's heads snapped over to where the other battle was going on when they heard Netto cry out. They saw their friend land on the ground then fall out of Cross Fusion. "Netto!" they yelled.

His PET lay there and the Syncro Chip fell out of it. "Netto-kun, get up!" Rockman yelled.

Netto brought his arms under him for support and pushed himself up painfully shaking his head to clear it. Dark Rockman walked over and picked up the Syncro Chip, he turned it over once, then crushed it with his hand. "Oops," he said.

Netto and Rockman watched in horror as they saw the Syncro Chip destroyed. Netto's expression turned angry and he brought up his fist and swung at Dark Rockman. Before it made impact, Dark Rockman caught his fist. His red eyes locked on Netto's brown ones and showed no sign of mercy. "That was stupid, Netto-kun," he said maliciously. He pulled on Netto's arm to throw him off balance then threw him into the wall of a building across the street.

Dark Rockman looked down at the PET resting at his feet. He picked it up and grinned at his double. "Did that hurt?" he asked Rockman.

Rockman's green eyes widened in anger, "What are you planning to do?" he yelled.

Dark Rockman frowned, "I asked first," he said. Before Rockman could answer another Dimensional Converter appeared and the PET glowed a bright blue. Netto sat up just in time to see his PET disappear.

"Rockman!" Netto yelled.

Dark Rockman took a cheeky bow and grinned at the three boys and two remaining navis. "Well, I have what I came for, bye!" he waved and disappeared. The Dimensional Area disappeared and Enzan and Laika were returned to their original state.

Enzan ran over to help Netto to his feet. "Are you okay?" Enzan asked, then winced at his words. 'Of course he's not okay,' he chided himself.

"Rockman," Netto whispered, his eyes widened in shock.

Enzan and Laika exchanged nervous glances and helped their friend to where Manabe was waiting for their report.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Why?" Netto asked, "Why did he do that?"

Enzan sighed, "Well, considering how much he hates Rockman, I'm not surprised."

"But why kidnap him?" Netto asked. "If he hated Rockman so much, then why not delete him?"

Laika shrugged, "Who knows? Best thing to do now is wait for Dark Rockman to contact us."

Netto's fist tightened but he didn't say anything.

Manabe knocked on the open door and the three boys turned to face her. She smiled weakly and walked in. "Well, Dark Rockman has given us a time a place to meet him, what do you want to do?" he asked.

"Go save Rockman," Netto hissed.

Enzan and Laika nodded.

Manabe sighed, "I thought that's what you would say. Well, since you're agents you can say that but I'm warning you, don't get in over your head."

"Don't worry," Laika said. "We won't."

Manabe nodded and opened a portfolio in her arms. "Well, he said to meet us in a half an hour; I suggest you three get ready. I'm taking most of security and a special force team, we'll see if we can't capture Dark Rockman while we're at it. Maybe we can end all this tonight." She smiled at them and left the room.

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Enzan smiles without humor.

"Wishful thinking," Laika scoffed.

"It can't hurt to try," Netto said thickly and walked towards the door.

Laika caught Netto by his arm. "Netto, maybe you should stay here."

Netto spun around, "What?" he yelled.

Laika locked his green eyes with Netto's brown ones, "Netto, you can't crossfuse, you don't have a navi or PET, and for all we know this can be a trap. You're defenseless! You should stay here because you can't fight."

"I can too fight. I'll do whatever it takes to get Rockman back," Netto yelled throwing his arm out of Laika's grip. "I owe him that much."

Laika's eyes softened. "I know you do."

"Then let me go," Netto said evenly. "I want to fight, I want Rockman back."

Laika sighed and Enzan watched the exchange, "Netto, maybe he's right," Enzan said.

Netto glared at Enzan. "You too?" he asked.

"Netto, you say you will fight, but how? All you will end up doing in hurting yourself. And you're already hurt from today's battle. Maybe you should stay here, just in case we're walking into a trap," Enzan said.

Netto glared at both of them, "I don't care what you say, I can do whatever the hell I want. And I'm going."

Laika sighed and walked up to Netto. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

Enzan watched as Netto eyes widened in shock and he looked down to see Laika's fist buried in his stomach. "Laika!" Enzan gasped.

Netto collapsed into Laika's arms and Laika cradled Netto's body. Then he turned to Enzan. "Dark Rockman is planning something, you know it, and I know it. And from what little I've seen and heard about this guy he won't do something like give Rockman back so easily. It's a trap for Netto and Rockman and we both know it."

Enzan gave Laika a weak smile, "He is going to kill you."

Laika looked at the unconscious Netto in his arms. "Oh well," he said coldly.

"Laika-san, are you sure this is wise?" Searchman asked.

"Yes," Laika replied, carrying Netto over to the couch in the room they were in and laying him down on it.

"Should we leave Netto-san here without anyone to watch over him?" Searchman asked. "What if this is a two way attack or what if he wakes up?"

Enzan blinked, "He's right. This could be a two part attack, what if Dark Rockman is trying to get us out of Net Saviors HQ to get something? The security here was cut in half to go get Dark Rockman."

Laika nodded, "Maybe one of us should stay here. Just in case."

Enzan looked at Netto and sighed. "I think I should, because if he wakes up when you're here you might have to worry more about Netto then Dark Rockman."

Laika glanced at Netto and gave Enzan and half grin. "All right, I'll see you when we get back then."

"Good luck," Enzan said, holding out his hand.

Laika looked at it and then gave Enzan a genuine smile, "You too," he said and took it in a firm shake.

Laika walked out of the room and down the hall where Manabe was waiting for him. She gave him a puzzled look, "Where's Netto-kun and Enzan-kun?" she asked.

"Netto fell asleep and Enzan is going to wait for him to wake up," Laika said simply and walked past Manabe to the car that was waiting for them.

Manabe sighed and followed Laika. It was probably for the best anyways.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Laika was at the front of the task force team and Manabe was in the back giving orders. "I want everything air tight here. Nothing can go in or out with out our knowing, understand?" she yelled.

People ran around trying to set up the defenses and traps on time. Laika glanced nervously at his PET. "Searchman?" he asked.

"Yes, Laika-san?" Searchman replied.

"Do you think this can all end tonight, all neat and clean like Manabe-san wants it?" Laika asked.

"Do you think so?" Searchman countered.

Laika looked at the ground and sighed, "No, I don't."

"Do you want to believe it can?" Searchman asked.

Laika nodded.

"Then the most you can do is try your hardest to make that happen," Searchman replied.

Laika looked up with a resolute glint in his eyes, "Thank you, Searchman."

"You're welcome, Laika-san."

There was a hiss and four Dimension Converters appeared out of nowhere. "Get ready!" Manabe yelled. The Dimensional Area came up and covered the area they were in.

Laika pulled out his Syncro Chip and slotted it into his PET. "Cross Fusion!" they yelled in unison and the tell tale green glow told the other people on the field that Laika and Searchman were ready.

Dark Rockman appeared in a shower of purple with the small blue PET in his hands. "Good Evening," he said. "Glad to see all of you here."

Laika brought up his gun and pointed it at Dark Rockman.

Dark Rockman looked at Laika with a mocking pity in his eyes. "I never break my promises so here," he tossed the PET to Laika who barely managed to catch it he was so surprised. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got other things to do, bye!" he waved and disappeared. The Dimensional Area vanished and Laika returned to his normal form catching his own PET in mid air.

Manabe walked over and took Rockman's PET out of Laika's hands. She turned it on and Rockman's face appeared on the screen. "Where's Netto-kun?" he asked.

"Back and Net Saviors HQ," Laika said.

Just then the task unit turned to see another Dimensional Area appear in the far distance, right over… "The Head Quarters," Manabe gasped.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Enzan looked over at Netto who was sprawled on the couch in a more natural sleep. "I don't want… homework…" he said in his sleep.

Enzan shook his head amusedly and continued to read a book he picked up. "Enzan-sama?" Blues asked.

"Yes, what is it, Blues?"

"Laika, Searchman and the others should have been back by now, do you think…" Blues paused.

Enzan glanced at the clock, "Give them ten more minutes and if they don't contact us send them and E-mail."

"Yes, Enzan-sama."

Five minutes had passed when a loud rumble shook the building. Enzan looked around and saw a Dimensional Converter appear outside.

Netto groaned and flipped over in his sleep. Enzan shook Netto's shoulder, "Netto, wake up!" he yelled.

"What?" Netto asked groggily.

The Dimensional Area appeared around the building.

"Netto!" Enzan yelled.

Netto sat up, "What? What happened?" He looked around and remembered what had happened. "You…" he started.

"Yell at me later, we have a problem," Enzan said and pulled out his Syncro Chip.

Netto watched as Enzan crossfused with Blues and then looked around at the room they were in as if expecting a ghost to pop out of the shadows at any time.

Dark Rockman appeared behind the two of them and laughed. Netto and Enzan jumped and spun around. "So you stayed here, Netto-kun. That was smart," he smirked.

Enzan stepped in front of Netto. "What do you want?" he yelled.

"That is for me to know and you to find out," Dark Rockman jeered and launched himself at Enzan with a charged buster.

Enzan used area steal to get away but the shot that was fired went into the floor creating a large explosion that rocked the building to its foundation. "Enzan!" Netto yelled and ran over to where his friend was.

"Netto, get out of here," Enzan hissed.

"But…" Netto started.

"NOW!" Enzan yelled as loudly as he could.

Dark Rockman smirked and held up his buster. "Let's try that again shall we?" he asked.

Netto glared at the navi and ran towards him in an effort to keep him from firing. He did fire but Netto managed to knock the buster off balance enough so that it didn't hit Enzan. Dark Rockman smirked and knocked Netto into the far wall for the second time that day.

Enzan brought up his sword and slashed at Dark Rockman forcing the navi to temporarily go on the defensive. Enzan took the opening he created and thrust his sword into Dark Rockman's arm. Dark Rockman smiled and snapped the sword in two. He looked at Enzan and took the piece of the sword that was in his arm out and snapped that in half as well. "Is that all you have?" he asked.

Netto threw the book Enzan was reading at Dark Rockman's head. "You leave him alone!" Netto yelled.

Dark Rockman sighed almost comically. "You're getting annoying, Netto-kun," he said and a Dimensional Converter appeared next to Netto. A light appeared around him and Netto's eyes widened in fear as he started to disappear.

"Netto!" Enzan yelled and ran over to where Netto was. He reached out to see if he could pull Netto out of the light but right before Enzan's fingers reached Netto's hand he disappeared.

Dark Rockman crossed his arms and smirked. "Well that was just too easy." He reached over and picked up a case Enzan didn't see him with before. "Well, I have what I need, see you!" he said and disappeared. The Dimensional Area disappeared and Enzan heard the dull clatter as his PET hit the floor.

"Netto…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Okay, this is my take on what I would like to happen with the dark Rockman saga. I'll let you know, I've almost finished this fic and the whole point is for it to be read before the next ep. Therfore I'll post one chapter a day every day until it's done. And these are long chapters too, so be ready.

Also... beware the angst, as I'm still not comfortable with writing it. 

Deadly Serenade, this is for you :3 I hope you like it.


	2. Chapter 2

Netto appeared in a large room that he instantly recognized from all of the video feeds they had received from Tesla. However the walls and floor glowed with the multi-color hue of a room that was in a Dimensional Area. He saw the leader of Neo WWW unconscious in her chair and the first thing he did was run over to see if she was okay. "Tesla?" he asked uncertainly.

There was a flash behind him and Dark Rockman appeared looking very pleased with himself. "Well, that went smoothly," he said. "Glad to know all the pawns played the part they were supposed to. Too bad though, I was hoping for more action."

Netto growled and glared at the purple navi. "You…" Netto hissed.

"You're not going to try and fight me again are you? Because it's starting to get kind of old, Netto-kun," Dark Rockman said mockingly. "I didn't bring you here to fight."

"What do you want with me?" Netto asked.

"I want Rockman to suffer," Dark Rockman said with a quiet laugh that made Netto shiver. "And you're just the pawn I need to do that Netto-kun."

Netto glared at him and resisted the urge to run at him again. He needed to think things through and plan out something.

Dark Rockman walked up to Netto and let his red eyes glow maliciously. Netto noted that they were the exact same height, even though he had no idea why he noted that. "Well, Netto-kun, you fell into that trap easily."

"What did you do with Rockman?" Netto asked. He shut his eyes and shook his head; Dark Rockman continued to glare at him.

"I gave him back to the Net Saviors, just as I promised, your navi is fine, for now," Dark Rockman gave him a grin that told many promises and none of them were good.

"What do you want?" Netto hissed, trying to keep his mind from going blank.

"Well, I'd tell you, but I don't think you would understand Netto-kun," Dark Rockman said simply.

"What are you doing?" Netto asked, his eyes half closed.

"You'll see," Dark Rockman said. The voice sounded like it was coming from the end of a tunnel. Netto's eyes misted over and became blank. "All humans are the same," Dark Rockman jeered.

"Dark Rockman-sama, the preparations are complete," Swallowman said from the doorway.

"Excellent," Dark Rockman replied. He slung an arm over Netto's shoulders. "Human minds are so easy to manipulate, though he did put up quite a fight. I think this will be most enjoyable, don't you agree?"

"Yes, Dark Rockman-sama," Swallowman said.

"You're dismissed," Dark Rockman said carelessly. Swallowman bowed and left the room. Dark Rockman looked at Netto's blank eyes and smirked. "I wonder how Rockman will react to you," he asked himself in and amused voice.

"Damnit!" Rockman yelled and punched the ground.

"Rockman, that's not going to help," Roll said quietly.

"But, I should have done something, anything! I knew Dark Rockman was planning something, but I never thought…" Rockman said in a lost voice.

"I think this took all of us by surprise," Enzan admitted. "But for now, we're going to have to wait."

"But…" Rockman started.

Blues put a hand on Rockman's shoulder, "Don't worry. I have the feeling that Dark Rockman couldn't personally hurt Netto-san any more then you could."

"He tried to kill Netto-kun before though," Rockman pointed out.

Blues sighed, "Well, I don't think that's what he has in mind."

Rockman shook his head and shivered. Roll looked at him at a loss of what to say.

"There is a virus attack on the Net Saviors data information building," Manabe said from the door way. "I'm sorry to break this up, but we have a job to do, people."

Enzan and Laika nodded and picked up their PETs.

"Take my PET too," Rockman said.

Laika looked at Rockman and nodded. Rockman smiled and linked himself back into his PET. Meiru picked it up. "I'm going too," she said.

Manabe smiled, "All right, but be careful."

"Yes, ma'am," Meiru said and followed the others out the door.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When they reached where the breach signal came from they saw Netto standing in front of the building, gazing up at where the viruses were doing there work. Meiru was overjoyed, "Netto!" she cried out happily and ran towards him but Laika grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Laika," she whined, "let me go."

"Something is wrong," he hissed.

Netto heard his name called and he turned to see Manabe, Meiru, Laika and Enzan standing there. "Hey," he said cheerfully.

"Where have you been?" Laika asked cautiously.

"Out," Netto replied simply.

Enzan took a closer look at his friend. He noted that his eyes were uncharacteristically cold and blank. "Laika's right," he murmured, "something is wrong."

"Netto-kun…" Rockman said softly from his PET.

Laika was the first to note the purple PET strapped around Netto's waist. "What is that?" he asked.

Netto flashed Laika a cold grin that for all the world made him looked like Dark Rockman. "A friend gave it to me, like it?" he smirked.

Meiru glared at Netto. "Netto, snap out of it!" she yelled at him.

"Snap out of what, may I ask?"

Manabe silently called for back up. She knew this couldn't end well.

"Netto, get a grip!" Enzan yelled.

They heard Dark Rockman's laugh from inside the purple PET. "Forget it humans, Netto-kun is mine."

"Dark Rockman!" Rockman yelled out. If he could he would go into that PET and rip him apart by himself.

There was a small tremor and four Dimensional Converters came out of the ground. A Dimensional Area appeared from Dark Rockman's call for the fourth time in two days. "Well?" Netto asked.

"Don't be stupid, you don't have a Syncro Chip and you can't crossfuse, now get a grip Netto!" Enzan yelled at his friend.

"I don't have a Syncro Chip?" Netto asked. "Says who?" he smiled and held up a brand new Syncro Chip in between two of his fingers.

Enzan and Laika pulled out their own Syncro Chips and immediately crossfused in an attempt to keep Netto from doing what he was about to do.

"No," Meiru whispered and Rockman didn't say anything but watched in sheer horror.

"Too slow!" Netto said cheerfully and pushed the chip into his PET.

Everyone watched as a small purple sphere edged in black appeared and grew. When it disappeared Dark R-Rockman was left in its wake. It was certainly Netto all right, with his brown hair and eyes, but instead of his blue suit with green gems he was now wearing a purple suit with black gems. His eyes glittered with malice and he summoned a sword and launched an attack on Laika.

Laika caught the attack with his gun in an effort to slow down Netto. "Don't do this," he pleaded.

"Do what?" Netto asked. "This?" He summoned another sword on his left hand and brought it down on the gun as well; the combined pressure of both attacks cleanly cut through the gun and caused an explosion.

Laika barely managed to dodge the double sword attack but his gun wasn't so lucky. It was completely destroyed as Netto cut clean through it. Netto straightened up and let one sword disappear. "Now," he said launching himself forward, "Let's see how you are at hand to hand!"

Laika brought up a shield but it didn't do him any good. Netto cut through it on his second try and went after Laika. Laika jumped back and summoned a sword for all the good it might do him. Netto smirked and brought his sword crashing down on Laika's. The impact made Laika's arm go slightly numb and his sword was shaking with the pressure that Netto was applying to it. "Does it hurt," Netto asked in a soft voice.

Laika's eyes narrowed and he summoned all his strength to push Netto back. He pulled back his sword and aimed at Netto side. Netto blocked it and pushed Laika back. He began on the offensive, pushing Laika back, step by step with each blow he delivered. "What's wrong, aren't you supposed to be a champion fencer? Where is that skill?" Netto taunted.

Laika glared at Netto and wanted nothing more then to fight back with all his strength but he knew, and Searchman knew that it was impossible. "Netto, why are you doing this?" he asked, blocking a blow to his chest.

Netto stepped forward and applied pressure on the strike slowly pushing until he had forced the taller boy to his knees. "Why not?" Netto gave him a grin. "It's fun."

Laika's eyes widened and he struggled to push back the sword but Netto was too strong. It was all he could do to make sure the weapon didn't cut through his armor. Netto looked at him with a mixture of pity and amusement, "You're weak," he said.

Laika glared at him and tried to push back but it was useless. Netto smirked and turned his sword a fraction of an inch so that it cut cleanly through Laika's. Laika fell back from the lack of pressure and Netto held his sword at Laika's throat, "Now then," he said.

"Oh no you don't!" Enzan yelled and ran over to where Netto and Laika were.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Charlie led the group of helpers to where Manabe was standing in shock. "What happened?" he asked in response to Manabe's horrified look.

She pointed at the Dimensional Area where the massive battle was taking place. Enzan and Netto were now fighting with swords, and Laika was sitting on the ground in some kind of shock.

"Is that…" Jasmine's voice trailed off.

"No way…" Dingo said in shock.

"Netto?" Pride whispered.

"Netto, come on! I know you can hear me!" Enzan yelled while blocking an attack aimed at his arm.

"Oh, I hear you perfectly fine, Enzan," Netto jeered.

"You're not Netto," Enzan hissed.

They broke apart and landed on opposite sides of the Dimensional Area. "What makes you say that?" Netto asked mockingly. "How well did you know me anyways?"

Enzan flew back at Netto and brought the blade by his head. "I knew you well enough to know you would never do this," he hissed as they broke apart.

Netto laughed at Enzan and jumped back into the air forcing Enzan to oblige. "Fair enough," Netto muttered as they met once again. The next time they landed Enzan went for a ground attack and aimed for Netto's leg. Netto brought his weapon down to parry Enzan's and kicked him in the side. Enzan flew over a few feet of ground before landing in the dirt. He pushed himself up shaking his head dazedly and looked up to see Netto over him with the sword pointed down. Enzan only had a split second to jump out of the way before Netto landed where he once was with the sword point buried in the ground.

"H-he's trying to kill me," Enzan said in disbelief.

"Enzan-sama…" Blues wasn't quite sure what to say to that.

"Bingo," Netto said cheerfully as he pulled his sword that was hilt deep out of the ground. He opened his eyes and they glittered dangerously, "However, too little too late, Enzan!" he yelled and ran at Enzan with his sword raised.

Enzan blocked the first blow purely on reflex. The second blow he managed to block because Blues was yelling at him. He couldn't believe it, there was no way Netto would ever…

"What's wrong," Netto jeered, "You're loosing your touch."

Enzan glared at Netto and pulled back his sword and tried to cut through Netto's, maybe if he didn't have a weapon he could talk some sense into him.

They came together again, hilt to hilt and Netto tried to push Enzan down like he did with Laika but Enzan was ready for it. He weakened his push and let Netto fall forward from lack of balance. Then he swung his sword up and around in an attempt to get Netto to parry with the edge of his blade. Netto saw through it and smirked, half turning his sword so Enzan hit the flat of it. "Nice try," he said and they broke apart, jumping to opposite sides of the Dimensional Area.

Enzan glared at Netto and ran at him with his sword raised. Netto smirked and followed suit. "Pathetic," he said to Enzan and sent him flying face down into the dirt.

Enzan groaned and turned over. "Enzan-sama?" Blues asked.

"He's too strong," Enzan said. "What the hell did Dark Rockman do to him?"

Netto came down and landed over Enzan with his sword pointed at his throat. "Give me one good reason, and I swear I will," Netto said in a deadly whisper.

Enzan took one glance into Netto's eyes and he knew he was telling the truth. "Netto, don't do this," he pleaded.

Netto gave him an insane grin and raised his sword. "Too bad," he jeered and brought it down. Enzan shut his eyes and felt the sword graze the side of his arm. He looked up to see for a split second Netto looking at him with a horrified expression on his face. "Enzan…" he said softly.

Enzan looked to see that Netto had driven the sword through the side of his arm. Blood was coming out and it hurt like hell but something had changed his mind at the last second. "Netto?" he asked.

Netto's eyes returned to their blank state. "Consider that a warning," he said darkly and the sword disappeared. He jumped back to the far end of the dimensional area and Swallowman came running out of the building.

"We've done as you asked, Dark Rockman-sama," he said.

"Excellent," Netto grinned and the dimensional area disappeared. Everyone returned to their normal forms and Enzan's pain increased tenfold.

Netto smirked at him and caught his PET before it hit the ground. "Well, that's all for today, see ya!" he winked as another dimensional converter appeared and everyone watched as he disappeared with it.

Meiru collapsed on the ground in apparent shock. "No way," she breathed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"That was not Netto-kun," Rockman said. "He would never…"

"What happened?" Jasmine asked. "I knew Netto was kidnapped but…"

Manabe sighed and finished bandaging Enzan's arm. "I hate to say this, but for a navi as strong as Dark Rockman, brainwashing a human wouldn't be difficult."

"Then why isn't Netto-kun just a puppet or something!" Rockman cried. "Why did he say those things!"

"Rockman…" Roll said softly.

Rockman looked at the ground silently willing the tears away. "Why would he do such a thing?"

Enzan sighed, "I don't know. But I can say this much, when Netto had the chance to finish me off, he had every intention of doing it." Everyone let the information sink in. "But… he didn't. At the last second he changed his mind and somehow, I think that means that Netto is still in there. Rockman's right, that isn't Netto," Enzan said darkly.

Manabe patted Enzan's arm lightly. "Well, I can say you are lucky you only got away with that much damage. I'd like to believe you but for now, we're treating Netto as an enemy, understand?"

Everyone nodded numbly.

"I can't believe the kid would do something like this," Nenji said in a soft voice.

Charlie patted his arm, "It's because he wouldn't."

Rockman nodded and stood up. "I'm going to my PET," he said and he logged out.

"Poor Rockman," Meiru said softly.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Next chappie :3 Enjoy


	3. Chapter 3

Rockman sat in his PET hugging his knees against his chest. Everything was too much, Netto, Dark Rockman, cross fusion… why?

Rockman let the unwilling tears stream down his face for the first time that day. They were nothing like human tears. They weren't salty or hot but they were still there. Who had given navis the ability to cry anyway?

He heard applause behind him. Rockman stood up and spun around to face his double. "You!" he hissed.

"Awww, do you miss your precious Netto-kun?" Dark Rockman jeered.

Rockman tacked Dark Rockman and slammed him into the floor of his PET. "What the hell did you do to Netto-kun!" he yelled.

"Nothing," Dark Rockman said playfully.

Rockman glared at him with hatred in his eyes. "Give me back Netto-kun," he hissed.

Dark Rockman smirked, "Or you'll what? Good eyes by the way. That's exactly how I want you to feel."

Rockman's gaze softened and Dark Rockman grabbed a hold of Rockman's arm. He flung the blue navi across the PET and stood up, brushing imaginary dust off his clothes. "Why?" Rockman asked while picking himself slowly up off the floor. "Why did you do that to Netto-kun? Why are you doing this?"

In a split second Rockman found himself pinned against the wall by Dark Rockman. He held Rockman by his throat and pushed him into the wall with as little mercy as ever. "Because I want to see you suffer," he said, his red eyes glowing. "I want to see you in pain. I want to see you so you're so completely useless" he tightened his grip making Rockman cry out, "that you will come to me, begging for me to delete you." He loosened his grip on Rockman's neck, allowing him some air. "And I will sit there, and I will laugh. I will laugh at your pain and anguish and I will mock you and make you feel even more pain." Dark Rockman let Rockman fall to the floor gasping. He looked down at the small navi, his eyes full of mocking pity, "And then, I will joyfully grant your request."

"You're insane," Rockman gasped.

"Well, that's nice to know," Dark Rockman smirked. "Too bad I still have Netto-kun," he jeered and disappeared from the PET.

"Wait!" Rockman yelled and ran over to where he was once standing. "Netto-kun…" Rockman whispered.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Dark Rockman appeared in the small room once again. Netto was fast asleep on a couch hugging a pillow and muttering in his sleep. Dark Rockman gave Netto a genuine smile and walked over to where the brunette was asleep. "Your navi is very broken up about you," he said softly. "Just as I knew he would be."

Netto groaned and turned over.

"Dark Rockman-sama?" Cloudman asked from the doorway.

Dark Rockman glanced at Cloudman, "Yes?" he asked.

"The preparations are almost complete, we should be done by tomorrow afternoon," he said.

Dark Rockman nodded happily, "All right, I can wait that long."

Cloudman nodded and left the room.

Dark Rockman smiled and affectionately ruffled Netto's hair. "Well, it's been a long day, and tomorrow we have a lot to do. Good night, Netto-kun."

Netto winced but didn't open his eyes. "Night Rockman," he said sleepily and fell back into dreamland in a matter of minutes.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Pride, Jasmine and Meiru walked down the street. "So, what did they take yesterday anyway?" Jasmine asked Meiru.

"That's just it, they didn't take anything. They destroyed some computers that have a lot of important data on them, but they're all backed up. The worst case scenario is that it will take about a month to get all that data back together and in working order, aside from that…" Meiru trailed off.

"Then why did they attack?" Pride asked.

"Who knows?" Jasmine sighed. "I'm more worried about Netto then anything," she admitted.

The other two nodded. "Who knows what might happen," Meiru said. "Or what will happen."

Pride looked around to see if there was anywhere they could go to take their minds of their current predicament. She saw only places that Netto had showed her on her grand tour of Japan. She sighed and looked at the sidewalk. Knightman knew the reason for the sigh, "Pride-sama?" he inquired.

"I'm all right, Knightman," Pride said. "We've gone through worse then this, right?"

Jasmine and Meiru nodded. "Right," they agreed.

It was a small gesture, but it was appreciated among the three at that time.

Pride looked up from the sidewalk and chanced a glance in the distance. She saw a familiar orange vest and blue bandana. "Netto?" she asked herself.

"Where?" Meiru asked.

Pride pointed in the distance to the unmistakable form on Netto.

"Pride-sama, you might not want to go over to him," Knightman warned her.

Pride adopted a resolute look in her eyes. "No, he doesn't have his PET with him. Maybe…"

Jasmine and Meiru nodded and they made their way over to Netto who was reading a manga in an open air market. There were a lot of people around but you could barely hear anything. "Netto!" Pride called out.

Netto looked up from his manga and fixed Pride with his empty glare. "Do I know you?" he asked saucily.

Pride's eyes widened but she kept her resolve. "Of course you do, I'm Pride remember?"

Meiru and Jasmine showed up next to her and Netto smirked. "Oh yeah, hello Princess," he gave a mocking bow and Pride stepped back. "And Meiru-chan and Jasmine-chan, nice to see you," he said.

"Netto, get a grip," Meiru hissed. "Rockman needs you!"

"Too bad," Netto smirked.

Meiru held back as much as she could but hearing Netto talk in that voice, to her just made her blood boil. That wasn't Netto, it couldn't have been. She shut her eyes and raised her hand to slap Netto across the cheek but Netto caught her wrist before she could. "Aren't we touchy today?" he asked.

Meiru tried to pull out of Netto's grip but she couldn't get free until he let her go. Meiru held her wrist and took a step back from Netto. "Scared?" he asked with a grin.

"Pride-sama, you need to get out of here," Knightman said quietly.

"He's right you know, you should leave," Netto said mockingly.

"Meiru-chan…" Roll said softly.

"Jasmine…" Medi said as well.

The three girls just glared at Netto. He crossed his arms and the manga he was reading fell to the ground. "Ah," he looked disappointed. "Now I lost my place," he said picking up the book. "Ah well," he straightened up and gave the girls a cheerful grin. "See ya, Meiru-chan, Jasmine-chan, Princess Pride," he said with a small bow. "Bye!" he waved and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

"Meiru-chan, Netto is dangerous right now," Roll said softly.

Jasmine shivered, "What happened?" she asked.

"I-I don't know," Medi replied in shock.

"Pride-sama?" Knightman asked his operator.

Pride clenched her fist and tried very hard not to cry. "He never called me 'Princess' before. He always treated me just like everyone else… right from the very beginning…"

"Pride-san," Jasmine said with pity in her voice.

Pride let one solitary tear fall, then she looked up, resolute. "That wasn't Netto," she hissed. "And we're going to get Netto back."

Meiru and Jasmine nodded happily, "Yeah," they cheered.

They walked away from the square, more determined then ever, but Netto's cold voice still echoed in Pride's head. "Princess Pride."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"They're planning something," Dingo said at Maha Ichiban. "They're planning something and we can't do anything about it," he hissed.

"Dingo…" Tomahawkman sighed, "you can beat yourself up over this. If they have a plan, then we need a plan."

Mahajorama set a plate of curry in front of Dingo, "Your navi is right, if you are to outsmart the enemy then you need your own plan."

Dingo looked at the curry on the plate; it had never looked so unappetizing. He picked up a spoonful and looked at it, then he sighed and set it down. "Outsmart the enemy? All right, new question. Who's the enemy, Dark Rockman or Netto?"

Madoi's mouth twisted. "Dingo, you need to get a grip on your own reality first. Netto may be doing these things but he's still under control of Dark Rockman. If you want to beat him you need to find out why he's using the kid."

Dingo looked at the curry then blinked. "Thanks Madoi-san!" he yelled and ran out of the curry store.

"Did he get an idea?" she asked.

"I think, just inspiration," Hinoken answered.

Madoi sighed, the sound hissing through her teeth. "I wish we could do something," she shut her eyes and rubbed her head, "Anything!"

"Maybe we can," Mahajorama said.

Madoi looked at him and smiled. "Maybe…" she said.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Well?" Manabe asked.

"We've almost got a lock on the location of Dark Rockman," one of the computer annalists said.

Manabe nodded, "Good, tell me when you're ready."

"Yes ma'am," he said and continued his work.

Manabe sighed and walked down the hall. The past few days were taking their tool. No one liked fighting the happy go lucky Netto but what choice did they have? Not to mention how Rockman must feel. Everything was done to spite him and surely the kind hearted navi was blaming himself. What a human reaction to have, she mused.

Manabe went down the hall and got a cup of coffee from one of the vending machines. She drank the nasty tasting liquid and made a face. Vending machine coffee was the worst.

"Manabe-san!" she heard some one yell. She looked up to see someone running down the hall to her.

"Yes?" she asked as the man skidded to a stop and gasped for breath.

"We have a fix on the location of Dark Rockman," he said.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Are you sure this is it?" Enzan asked for the millionth time.

"Yes, Enzan, I'm sure," Manabe replied evenly.

Enzan sighed and leaned into the back seat of the car. "What a nightmare," he whispered.

Laika nodded, "Hopefully it will be over soon."

Manabe gave them a sad grin, "I know this has been tough on you boys. But you still need to keep your head clear. This may sound cruel but," Manabe sighed, "try and forget that it's Netto. Otherwise, I can promise you'll loose again."

Enzan touched where Netto had cut through his arm. "I know," he said softly.

Manabe glanced at them in the review mirror. "You will have help," she said. "Everyone is sending in their navis. I'm not letting anyone else go into the building but hopefully that will keep the guard programs busy."

Laika and Enzan nodded.

Manabe sighed, "Promise me you two will be careful, and try to keep Rockman out of trouble."

Enzan and Laika nodded again. "Don't worry Manabe-san," Blues said, "We won't let anything happen to Rockman," he paused, "Or Netto-san."

Enzan nodded, "Yeah."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Did you send out the signal?" Dark Rockman asked.

"Just as you told me too," Cosmoman replied.

"Excellent, they should be here any minute now," Dark Rockman smiled. "Everything is going according to plan."

"What is the plan?" Netto asked, barely glancing up from the manga he was reading.

"To lure Rockman here, and destroy him," Dark Rockman laughed.

"And half of the Net Savior police force while you're at it," Netto pointed out.

"Don't worry; we can take care of that. We just need to make sure that the net navi's go through the dimensional gate so they come into the real world. Or it wouldn't be very much fun revenge now would it?"

Netto shrugged and returned to reading his manga.

"Are the traps ready?" Dark Rockman asked.

"Yes, Dark Rockman-sama," Swallowman answered.

"Good, good," Dark Rockman said. "Well, I think it's time to go greet our guests, don't you?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"There's a dimensional area surrounding the building!" Manabe yelled. "I want the special task team to…" her voice trailed off as the Dimensional Area disappeared.

"He's inviting us in," Enzan noted.

Manabe's eyes narrowed, "It's a trap."

"Manabe-san, we have to go," Laika said.

Manabe looked at the foreboding building then at Enzan and Laika. "Boys, I can't send you into a trap! You've seen what they can do. This isn't every other mission you've been on."

"Please," Enzan and Laika asked together.

Manabe looked at them and realized just how much they wanted to rescue Netto. She looked around at all of the others standing there. There were kids, adults, teens; all people Netto and Rockman had helped. Everyone nodded at her PETs at the ready. This time it was Netto and Rockman who needed help, and they were ready and willing to do everything they could. Manabe's gaze softened, years of police school training yelling at her to not do what she was about to do, "All right, go," she said.

Laika and Enzan both gave her grateful smiles. They lasted for about two seconds but Manabe had never before seen them smile like that. "Thanks, Manabe-san," Rockman said from his PET.

"All right, well, lets not sit here like waiting ducks, go!" she said.

Enzan and Laika disappeared inside the building. Everyone else sent their navis into the jack in port that was set up outside the building. "Good luck," Manabe said to Rockman as she sent him into the net.

"Wait!" someone yelled behind them. Everyone looked up to see WWW and Dekao running towards them.

"You…" Manabe said.

"Let us help," Madoi said.

"I can't, you…"

"Please," Dekao asked. "Netto's one of my best friends, I couldn't call myself his friend if I didn't try and help him."

Manabe looked at them and nodded, another set of police codes down the drain.

They all took out their PETs and their navi's joined everyone else's.

Manabe sighed and looked at Rockman's PET again, "Good luck," she said again with a small smile.

"Thanks," he said and disappeared in a shower of pixels.

Manabe and the other operators watched as the dimensional area reappeared around the building.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Next chappie. Two more left :3


	4. Chapter 4

Enzan and Laika walked up the stairs cautiously. It wasn't worth it to take the elevator in case it was rigged and you couldn't be too careful with Dark Rockman. They looked out on each level but everything was dark. In the net the navis were fighting with the security programs to make sure nothing happened to Enzan and Laika before they found where Netto and Dark Rockman were.

It wasn't until they got to the very top of the building when they entered a ball room where Netto was leaning against the far wall in anticipation. "Hello," he greeted then cheerfully as they entered the room.

"Hi," Enzan said. Laika didn't reply at all.

"You're cold today," Netto smirked.

Laika and Enzan glared at him but didn't say anything.

Netto shrugged, "Ah well, how about we start this then, hm?" he asked pulling out his Syncro Chip.

Enzan and Laika pulled out theirs in a split second and all three transformed at the same time.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The other navi's were still in the net bringing down security program after security program and getting nowhere. All of a sudden, everything stopped. The programs were deactivated and everything was still.

"Watch out," Tomahawkman said.

A huge black ball of energy came towards them and Cosmoman stood above them smirking. "Well, hello," he said.

Rockman ran at him yelling and bringing up his buster. "You!" he yelled.

Cosmoman smirked and disappeared. Rockman ran to where he was and then he disappeared too.

"What?" Elecman gasped.

All the other navi's walked over to where Rockman and Cosmoman once were and saw a shallow disorient in the space in front of them. "The gateway into the real world," Roll said softly.

"Well?" Tomahawkman asked getting ready to jump in. "Are you coming or not?"

Everyone made a silent agreement and then went into the gateway.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Just as the fight was about to begin, Cosmoman appeared in a pixel shower. Followed seconds after by Rockman. From another area of the room, Swallowman and Cloudman also appeared, then from the same area and Rockman and Cosmoman all the other navi's appeared. Netto raised an eyebrow, "Well, isn't this fun?" he asked.

"Netto-kun," Rockman said softly.

Cosmoman went after Laika and Swallowman went after Enzan. Cloudman appeared in front of the group of well wishing navis and smirked. "Ready?" he asked.

"You, against all of us?" Tomahawkman asked, "Do you really think that's going to work?"

Cloudman raised his arms and scores of electric and rain viruses appeared around them. "You, against all of us?" Cloudman mocked.

Tomahawkman growled and threw his axe at the first virus. No one said it would be easy.

Rockman stared in the face of Netto. Just seeing Netto like that made him shiver, and he knew what was going to happen next. "Well, now it's just you and me," Netto grinned. "Isn't that nice?"

"Netto-kun, please, I'm begging you, don't do this," Rockman pleaded.

Netto summoned a sword and swung it at Rockman who blocked it with his buster. "Sorry, what was that? I didn't hear you," Netto said while grinning.

"Don't make me hurt you, please," Rockman said with tears in his eyes. "I don't want to fight."

"I know," Netto said. "That's why this is fun," he giggled.

Rockman's eyes widened and Netto summoned his own buster and fired it at Rockman. Rockman shot his own buster and the small blasts of light that issued from their weapons crashed into one another creating large explosions.

"Aqua tower!" Roll yelled and released the jet of water that killed ten viruses at once. Netto took a note of it and looked disappointed in the way that it was as if he had been told he couldn't go to the park because it was raining.

"Battle chips?" he said. "That's no fair." He summoned a black ball on energy to his hand and slammed it on the ground. The lights flickered three times then went out. Outside of the Dimensional Area all of the EPT screens gave static. "There we go," Netto grinned.

"No!" Manabe yelled. The situation had just gone from very bad to much worse.

"Don't worry," Nenji said. "I trust them, Nanjiroh will come through."

"I hope so," Charlie said looking at the top floor where various flashes of color appeared.

Pride clutched her PET and sent a silent plea up to anyone who would listen. "Please, bring them all back safe," she whispered.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Rockman shot at Netto again and he parried the shots with his own. The shots met in mid air and exploded. Netto came through the curtain of smoke with his buster charged; he fired off a shot that Rockman barely managed to dodge.

"Netto-kun, I can't fight you!" Rockman said.

Netto grinned, "I know, why do you think I'm doing this," Netto smirked. He summoned another sword and grinned at Rockman. "I said I'd make you suffer," he whispered. "I said you'd plead with me and I said I'd laugh. What more anguish can you feel then if I deleted you by your best friend's hand?" Rockman's green eyes widened in fear as Netto advanced. "For your sake, I really hope this hurts," Netto said maliciously and thrust his sword forward, right through Rockman's chest.

"ROCKMAN!" Roll screamed.

Rockman felt the blade slice through his chest and if he was human it would have gone right through his heart. But he wasn't human and he was going to get Netto back if it cost him everything.

Everything was still in the room and everyone watched and Rockman slowly lifted up his arms and pulled Netto into a tight embrace. "Netto-kun, I would never hurt you," Rockman whispered.

Netto's eyes widened, "Rockman?" he whispered.

"Yes?" Rockman replied.

"You…" Netto's lips trembled and he couldn't say the next word. Netto fell out of cross fusion and held Rockman in his own embrace. Everyone heard the purple PET clatter to the floor in the now still room. "What the hell are you doing, Rockman?" Netto whispered to him on the verge of tears.

Rockman hugged Netto tightly, "I'm getting my Netto-kun back," Rockman said.

Netto looked at the wound that he had inflicted on Rockman. It was straight through his shoulder, about two centimeters from Rockman's navi icon. "Oh god," he said letting his fingers brush the wound. "Where's my PET?" he asked.

"Manabe has it," Rockman said. "She's outside."

Netto shut his eyes tightly to ward off incoming tears, "No way…" he said softly.

Dark Rockman appeared in a shower of pixels in the middle of the room. "Well, you win some you loose some I guess," Dark Rockman shrugged. "Ah well, I'll finish this off myself," he said happily.

Netto took a defensive stance in front of Rockman. "Leave him alone!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the room. The yell seemed to bring everyone back to their senses and the battles resumed.

Dark Rockman smirked at Netto. "I had hopes for you, Netto-kun. You were a very strong operator. Oh well, maybe when I delete your navi…" he let the rest of the sentence hang in the air.

Netto growled and brought his fist around into Rockman's face. The purple navi staggered slightly but quickly regained control. "Now that was uncalled for," he said and grabbed Netto's wrist as he tried to punch him again. He threw Netto into the floor a few feet away where he lay still.

Rockman yelled and brought up his charged buster and shot Dark Rockman point blank. He was sent flying back, across the room into the far wall. Rockman picked himself up painfully and Dark Rockman did the same. "Oh, how clever," Dark Rockman jeered.

Rockman collapsed onto one knee gasping for breath.

"Looks like that wound will be the end of you after all," Dark Rockman said. "Oh the irony, in the end your fate was still decided by your operator." Dark Rockman charged his buster; purple light shined around it and started to seep into the weapon. It glowed a brilliant purple and Dark Rockman leveled it with Rockman's navi icon. "And now, I will finish you off, just like I promised."

Netto pushed himself up off the floor painfully, "No," he said. He would not live with Rockman's death on his conscience. He got up and ran towards Rockman as Dark Rockman fired off the shot.

Rockman watched the light come towards him and he shut his eyes and braced himself for the impact. "Sorry Netto-kun," he muttered. Then he felt someone's arms around him, hugging him tightly. Rockman opened his eyes just in time to see Netto wink at him, right before the attack hit.

Both boys were sent reeling back into the wall closest to them. Rockman sat there stunned and clutching Netto's body. "Why, Netto-kun?" he whispered.

Netto had his arms still wrapped around Rockman's body, his back shielding Rockman from the attack. His face was now buried in Rockman's shoulder and he doubted he could move at all. Still, he found enough strength to chuckle at his poor navi's expense. "Why not?" he asked weakly.

Dark Rockman's eyes widened in shock. "Netto-kun…" he said softly. Then his ruby gaze turned angry, "Why the hell did you do that?" he yelled.

Netto wanted for all the world to have the strength to turn around, stick his tongue out at Dark Rockman and say, "Why not?" but he doubted it would help matters much.

Rockman hugged Netto tightly and Netto hugged back. "Glad you're safe," Netto said weakly.

Rockman looked at his friend and felt a hated like he had never felt before. He wanted Dark Rockman to pay, but he could barely move himself.

To the left there was a loud explosion and a yell as Cloudman was deleted by Elecman and Gyroman's combined attacks. All of the viruses they were fighting disappeared. "Medi, Roll, go help Rockman," Knightman said. "We'll hold off Dark Rockman as long as we can."

Medi and Roll nodded and ran over to where Rockman and Netto were laying.

Knightman lifted up his wrecking ball and fired it at Rockman. Rockman caught it with one hand and smirked. "Pathetic," he said and threw it back at Knightman.

Roll and Medi crouched down by Rockman. "Are you all right?" Medi asked.

"No," Rockman said darkly.

Roll cradled Netto's body and lay him down on the floor. "Well, don't worry, everything will be fine," she said softly.

"I wonder," Rockman said.

Roll and Medi exchanged nervous glances and pulled their healing powers together. Medi used her healing pulse on the back side of the wound and Roll used hers on the front. Together the two managed to heal the wound completely, and then some.

Rockman stood up and looked at Netto. He was barely conscious but still awake, he grinned at Rockman, "Why are you worried about me? I'll be fine," he said.

Rockman looked at where the wound used to be. "You were aiming for my navi icon, you could have deleted me. What made you change your mind?" Rockman asked.

"I need someone to nag at me about doing my homework and attempting to wake me up on time. If I got rid of you I don't think there is a navi in this world who could put up with me the way you do," Netto said giving Rockman a broad grin.

"Netto-kun…" Rockman said softly.

There was a loud explosion behind them. Elecman dived at Dark Rockman but the navi jumped away at the last possible second and Elecman's electrical attack went into the floor of the building instead. The lights flickered for a second, and then everything came online as strongly as before.

"Watch Netto-kun for me," Rockman told Roll and Medi then ran over to where the fight was going on.

Enzan and Laika were still battling the Darkloid navis. They were very strong and they had only been able to catch bits and glances of what was going on in the battle. They landed side by side and looked at one another and nodded. Cosmoman and Swallowman came at them with full force but Laika and Enzan jumped out of the way, letting the navis crash into one another.

"You sure?" Laika asked.

"Of course, you better be good with that thing," Enzan said looking at Laika's gun.

"I am, don't worry," Laika said.

Enzan smiled and summoned two swords then used the whirlwind chip to create a deadly tornado. He managed to blind Cosmoman and Swallowman just long enough for Laika to take aim.

"Target lock," he breathed. "Fire one," he said and pulled the trigger. The first shot went clean through Cloudman and he screamed at he was deleted. Swallowman heard his comrade's scream and looked around in the whirlwind dazedly.

"Don't take your eyes off the opponent!" Enzan yelled and used his swords to slash through Swallowman. The navi didn't even have time to cry out before he was deleted.

"Good job," Laika said.

"Thanks," Enzan replied. "You too."

They looked around at what was going on and they both spotted Netto at the same time. "Netto," they yelled out and ran over to where he was.

"Hey," Netto said.

Enzan and Laika both noted that his eyes, albeit clouded with pain weren't blank like they were before. "What the hell did you do?" Enzan asked.

"He jumped in front of Dark Rockman's finishing attack at the last second to save Rockman," Roll said in a kind of awe.

Enzan sighed and crouched by Netto. "Only you," he said shaking his head disbelievingly.

Netto winked, "Of course," he said.

Laika was silent as he looked at Netto. Netto looked at Laika with his eyebrow raised, "Do you want to yell at me too?" he asked.

Laika shook his head, "No," he gave Netto a small smile. "You did well."

Netto smiled back then turned to the battle that was about to begin. "Well, here it is," Netto breathed.

Manabe glanced at the blue PET as it came back online. "Rockman, are you all right?" she asked.

"I'm fine, Manabe-san. I'm about to fight Dark Rockman," he said.

"Netto-kun?" she asked.

Rockman shook his head. "He's…fine," Rockman's voice broke.

"Something happened, didn't it?" she asked.

"Just send me battle chips, please. This needs to be ended quickly," Rockman said.

Manabe nodded. "All right, be careful Rockman."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Ready?" Dark Rockman asked.

Manabe slotted in a spread gun chip. Rockman didn't even reply, but instead let loose the attack. It rained down blue light on Dark Rockman and he was engulfed in dust and debris as the attack made everything explode around him. Rockman came through the dust cloud and attacked with a Flame Tower. Dark Rockman managed to dodge but Rockman anticipated where he would go and appeared before him.

"You're angry," Dark Rockman taunted.

Rockman slammed his fist into Dark Rockman's face. "Of course I'm angry," he hissed. "You hurt Netto-kun!"

Dark Rockman reeled sideways and smiled. "You are so easy to manipulate, Rockman."

"Calm down," Manabe said.

Rockman took a deep breath and Dark Rockman brought up his buster. A shield formed around Rockman and Rockman jumped out of the way. "All right, let's go," he said.

"Aqua tower!" Rockman used the chips that were provided to him and quickly thought up a strategy.

Dark Rockman snorted and blew the column of water apart with his buster, "Cute," he murmured. When the attack disappeared he didn't see Rockman anywhere. "What the…" he said as Rockman came down on top of him with a charged buster shot. It hit Dark Rockman and sent him into the ground where he quickly got up and jumped out of the way. "You were on top of the aqua tower," he murmured, then he grinned. "Nice," he said.

Rockman breathed heavily. Keeping his own on top of an attack chip was harder then he thought it would be. "Elec sword!" he yelled and went after Dark Rockman.

Dark Rockman jumped out of the way as the first and second slashes went past his face. His red eye glinted maniacally. He brought his fist into Rockman's stomach, making him collapse. "Try again," Dark Rockman laughed.

Rockman looked at the ground and noted that Dark Rockman was standing in a puddle of water left from the aqua tower attack. He touched the Elec Sword to the puddle and Dark Rockman felt an electric shock rip though his body. Rockman took the opening and tackled Dark Rockman into the wall.

Dark Rockman brought up his own Elec Sword and parried Rockman's next blow. "Well, wasn't that ingenious," Dark Rockman sneered.

Rockman didn't reply but concentrated on the battle at hand. He took a deep breath and jumped out of the way letting Dark Rockman loose his balance. Then he turned his Elec Sword into his buster and shot Dark Rockman in the back.

Dark Rockman picked himself up and laughed. "Is that all you've got? I honestly expected more from you."

Rockman kept on ignoring the taunts sent to him by his enemy. If he wanted to win, he needed to keep a cool head. 'I also need to end this quickly,' he told himself and jumped at Dark Rockman again.

"I think I'm quite done with you," Dark Rockman sneered and punched Rockman out of mid air. He slammed the blue navi into the ground and jumped back. He focused a huge amount of dark energy in his hand and looked down on Rockman with hatred in his eyes. "This time I won't miss," he said quietly.

"Manabe-san, send me a shield, sword and area steal battle chips now," Rockman said quickly.

"But…" Manabe said.

"NOW!" Rockman yelled.

Manabe slotted in the battle chips that Rockman had requested and watched the battle on the small screen.

"DIE!" Dark Rockman yelled and released the huge energy blast straight at Rockman.

"Rockman!" Netto yelled.

Rockman watched the attack come straight at him, then at the last second he used the shield. "Do you really think that will save you?" Dark Rockman jeered. Rockman ignored him and used area steal.

As the giant attack withered away, there was no trace left of Rockman at all. "No…" Netto whispered.

"I said he was weak," Dark Rockman laughed.

"Who's weak?" Rockman whispered in Dark Rockman's ear.

"How did you…" Dark Rockman asked.

"This is for Netto-kun," Rockman said and summoned the sword and thrust it through Dark Rockman's chest.

An unearthly cry escaped Dark Rockman's lips as dark energy poured from his wound. "NO!" Dark Rockman yelled. "I can't die, I won't die!"

Everyone watched as the navi disintegrated.

"Is he… gone?" Roll ventured.

Rockman released his sword and nodded. Then the dimensional area disappeared. He quickly turned around before he was forced to log out, "Netto-kun?"

Netto was being supported by Enzan and Laika who had returned to their human forms. Netto gave Rockman a thumbs up as he logged out.

"You're a mess," Laika muttered.

"Sorry," Netto replied.

"No you're not," Enzan said.

Netto smiled at him, "You're right, I'm not. I don't regret what I did."

"I'm amazed you haven't passed out yet," Enzan said to Netto.

"Like hell I'm letting you carry me out of here," Netto replied. "I still have my pride you know."

"I know," Enzan and Laika said together.

They helped Netto walk over to the elevator. "Think it's safe?" Laika asked.

"Once way to find out," Netto said cheerfully.

Enzan pushed the button down button and they waited for the elevator to come. "Netto?" Enzan asked.

"Yeah?"

"Welcome back."

Netto smiled, "Thanks."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

And a short epilogue will be thrown your way in due time :3


	5. Epilogue

There was a blinding light and Netto was forced to open his eyes against his will. The nurse stepped away from the curtains and smiled. "You'll have visitors soon, Netto-san. Time to wake up."

Netto groaned and pulled the white hospital sheets over his head.

"I'll get him up," Rockman said to the nurse.

The nurse smiled and nodded then walked out of the room.

Rockman turned to Netto, "Come on, Netto-kun, everyone wants to see you. You can't sleep through the whole thing!"

"I can try," Netto muttered.

Rockman sighed, "Netto-kun," he pleaded.

Netto took the sheets from over his head and stuck his tongue out at Rockman. "I'm up," he said.

Netto and Rockman talked for about a half an hour before they heard a knock on the door. They looked up to see Manabe, Enzan and Laika standing in the doorway. Netto raised his hand in greeting, "Hey!"

Manabe smiled and Enzan and Laika nodded. "Are you feeling any better, Netto-kun?" Manabe asked.

Netto yawned, "I'm fine."

"You took quite an injury there," Manabe said, prodding Netto to see if anything was wrong.

Netto shrugged, "It doesn't hurt that much."

"Liar," Rockman muttered.

"I heard that," Netto said to Rockman.

"Good, you were supposed to hear it," Rockman chided.

"What was that?" Netto asked.

The exchange between the two seemed to put Manabe more at ease. "Well, I'm glad to see you're feeling better."

Netto and Rockman both looked at Manabe and nodded. "Yeup," Netto said brightly.

Manabe looked at her watch. "Well, I just dropped by to see how you were doing. I'll leave you boys to talk. Bye," Manabe waved and left the room, silently shutting the door behind her.

Enzan was the first to talk. "Why did you jump in front of the attack like that?" he asked.

Netto tried to make a joke about it, "Well, you know. I thought I could get out of a few more days of school," he said rubbing the back of his head.

"Netto," Laika said and Netto stopped babbling.

"I'm sorry," Netto said softly.

"For what?" Laika and Enzan asked.

"Everything. I know what Dark Rockman had me do, I remember everything. I couldn't stop it…" Netto said looking at the white sheet on his bed.

"Netto, we don't blame you for what happened," Enzan said.

"Netto-kun, he's right, you're only human after all," Rockman said with a hint of a smile.

Netto looked gratefully at Rockman. "Besides," Laika continued. "You had a chance to kill us both and you didn't."

"That was blunt," Netto said.

Laika looked at the ceiling and a small red tinge fled over his cheeks. "Sentimental talk isn't Laika-san's strong point," Searchman said with a small smile.

Netto laughed, "Ah well, you can't be good at everything."

Before anything else could be exchanged between the three there was a knock at the door. Laika walked over and opened it, and the rest of the group came in.

"They're finally letting us in, it's about time!" Madoi said loudly.

Netto giggled. "Sorry Madoi-san, the doctors were kinda touchy."

"Netto-kun, you were in critical condition!" Rockman yelled.

Netto scoffed, "Yeah right," he said crossing his arms.

Rockman shook his head slowly.

Meiru was the first to be by Netto's bedside. "Are you feeling all right?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Netto said again.

"We were worried," Jasmine said.

"Sorry," Netto replied sheepishly.

"Well kid, you had us all worried," Nenji said.

Netto smiled, "Well, once again, I'm fine," he stressed the word fine to make sure everyone got it. "And hospital food sucks."

Everyone laughed. "Of course it does," Hinoken said with a small smile. "We brought you something though."

Netto cheered when Mahajorama showed him a plate of curry they had snuck into the hospital. "You guys rock!" he said happily.

"You can eat after we leave," Meiru said.

"Of course," Rockman answered before Netto could.

They all hung around until visiting hours were over, even Enzan and Laika. While everyone was being shooed out by the nurse Pride snuck back over to the bed and gave Netto a quick hug. "I'm glad you're safe," she said softly.

Netto turned a bright red and smiled back at Pride. "Thank you, Pride," he said happily.

The princess smiled back and left the room before the nurse could come back in. The nurse put her hands on her hips and looked at Netto. "Well, that's quite a few friends you got there."

Netto smiled, "Yeup," he said happily.

"Okay, well, I'll be back in a few hours to check up on you. This time, stay in bed," she said and left the room.

"You leave your bed once…" Netto rolled his eyes.

"Netto-kun, I don't think you should be walking around when you're that hurt."

"I'm fine!" Netto said exasperatedly.

"I know," Rockman said with a smile.

Netto took out the plate of curry that the members of WWW had brought him and he started to eat the spicy dish with vigor. "Netto-kun?" Rockman asked.

"Mmm?" Netto looked at Rockman with the spoon still in his mouth.

Rockman laughed, then he said, "What did make you jump in front of the attack?"

Netto set down the spoon and looked at the curry thoughtfully. "Because," he said, "I don't think I could imagine a life without you there to help me. We're a team, Rockman, and we always will be."

Rockman smiled, "Thank you, Netto-kun."

Netto took another bite of curry and smiled, "You're welcome."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Fin


End file.
